By Tom Frary
At once revered and maligned, Ballydoyle's Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) bids to put the critics in their place once again on Saturday as he heads back to Leopardstown for back-to-back renewals of the G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes, a “Win And You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Not even favourite this time, with all the expectation centred around the British raider Economics (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), he nevertheless has everything in his favour once more and could be set for another tour de force.
Fading out of things in the straight in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes when last seen in July, visually it appeared that the “bad” version of Auguste Rodin had shown up at Ascot but a closer look at the facts suggest the opposite. In this race 12 months ago, he completed the task in 2:02.68 while his G1 Prince of Wales's success on good-to-firm ground in June saw him post a 2:03.12 winning time. Stuck down on the worst of the ground in the King George, he ran the first 10 furlongs of the race in 2:02.03 which is over six lengths faster than he had managed at the Royal meeting albeit not including the last two-furlong climb of the straight.
Unsurprisingly, he tired rapidly having given his all to be fifth leading to the misconception that he had downed tools. Contrastingly arguably at a peak now, he has reportedly thrived in his work in the lead-up to his repeat bid and he still sets an elevated standard now that connections fully understand his stamina limitations.
“The King George didn't go to plan, with the ground riding slower than advertised,” Ryan Moore said. “It's also worth remembering that he ran poor in the same race last season before going on to win the Irish Champion Stakes, so I'm not concerned on that score. He's obviously a Derby winner and a three-time group 1 winner over a mile and a half, but the 10 furlongs comes just as easy to him and we know he acts well around Leopardstown.”
Despite the hype surrounding Economics, connections are aware of the nature of the task for the impressive G2 Dante Stakes and G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano winner. At York, Isa Salman Al Khalifa's highly progressive colt came home in 2:09.30 while at Deauville he posted a smart 2:04.03 and the chances are he will have to run considerably faster here. That is not to say that he can't, with his trainer having brought him along with perfect stealth to maintain an all-important sense of invulnerability. With Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in tow, he will be dragged into the red for the first time and it will be fascinating to see what occurs.
“It's no easy task by any means to go over to Ireland and win, but some others have been over in the past and managed it,” jockey Tom Marquand said. “He will need to be every bit as good as we hope he is and maybe even a little bit more to win. I felt he was a lot more mature at Deauville and he felt more effective in his stride. When he was motoring up to the line he was still extending, whereas at York once he got into top gear he was having a little wobble around and was quite immature still.”
“In terms of potential, he is the most exciting horse I have been involved with,” he added. “We're coming to the end of his 3-year-old campaign and we still don't really know what he is, which is the exciting bit.”
In the shadow of City Of Troy, Los Angeles (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) has nevertheless worked his own quiet magic so far this term with a gallant effort in the Derby deserving of upgrading and solid wins in the G1 Irish Derby and G2 Great Voltigeur. “It will be interesting,” O'Brien said. “He's won around Leopardstown and it was soft ground when he won, but he's a deceiving horse as he's lazy and when he gets the front he doesn't do much, so it's just hard to assess him. For us, we'll learn a lot about him in this race because there'll be a strong, even pace and we will learn what kind of middle-distance type horse he's going to be.”
This year's renewal has extra spice due to the presence of Susumu Fujita's G1 Tokyo Yushun third Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), whose form in this context is an unknown but who at least has a genetic leg-up being a full-brother to Sottsass (Ire). Trainer Yoshito Yahagi is back in Ireland having visited the old site of this race. “I came 35 years ago at Phoenix Park and this is my first time at Leopardstown,” he explained. “There are a lot of top European horses, top competitive horses, against us. I'm really looking forward to running against these top horses in Europe.”
Fortuna Favoured In The Matron…
Europe's other group 1 prize on Saturday is the Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes, where Medallion Racing, Steve Weston, Barry Fowler and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's G1 Coronation Stakes and G1 Falmouth Stakes winner Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) continues on the road to the Breeders' Cup, with a berth in the GI Filly & Mare Turf on the line. Rock-solid as well as high-class, she will probably only need to reproduce her last two efforts to prevail in a renewal that also includes Wathnan Racing's acquisition Fallen Angel (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}).
Successful in the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes on this weekend at two, the Karl Burke trainee has been absent since her G1 Irish 1,000 Guineas triumph but is back in rude health again. “She's been off the track a long time and it's a big ask going up against that calibre of opposition after time off, but Karl reports her to be in great shape,” Wathnan's racing adviser Richard Brown explained, before her trainer added, “She's over her little setback that she had during the summer and is training very well. The Curragh suited her really well and I think Leopardstown will suit her just as well.”
Willie McCreery has a pair of major contenders in Arturo Cousino's unbeaten G3 Brownstown Stakes winner and Leopardstown specialist Jancis (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) and Al Shira'aa Racing's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches-placed Vespertilio (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), with jockey Billy Lee siding with the latter due to her experience. “It's a huge step for Jancis and if it was a different track, you would be worried but it's the same track she's run on so she will know where she is, she seems in great form and will love that quicker ground,” the trainer said. “Billy doesn't know if he has made the right choice–if there was a fillies' group 1 over seven furlongs I would split them up, but when the races are on your doorstep you have to take your chance and it's a great weekend of racing.”
Delacroix Takes The Next Step…
Elsewhere at Leopardstown and Doncaster, Ballydoyle's TDN Rising Stars Bubbling (Ire) (No Nay Never), Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) line up as favourites for the Listed Ballylinch Stud Irish EBF Ingabelle Stakes, G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes–a Breeders' Cup qualifier–and G2 Solonaway Stakes respectively, with the former pair looking to enhance Classic credentials. Doncaster's card sees Cheveley Park Stud's TDN Rising Star Chancellor (GB) (Kingman {GB}) tackle Fitri Hay's G2 Vintage Stakes runner-up Wolf Of Badenoch (GB) (Pinatubo {Ire}) in the G2 Champagne Stakes, while Juddmonte's G3 Thoroughbred Stakes winner Lead Artist (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) takes on the possibly declining Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G2 Park Stakes.
Opera Singer And Kyprios Head Sunday Star Cast…
Sunday's field have now been set, with the group 1 races at The Curragh and ParisLongchamp hosting some major names including Ballydoyle's elite-level winners Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Opera Singer (Justify). The former bids for a second G1 Irish St Leger during the second day of the Irish Champions Festival in Kildare, while the latter is one of a dozen fillies set to contest the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille which is the feature of the French Arc Trials card.
Kyprios will face seven in the 14-furlong contest, including Scuderia La Tesa Limited and Vaibhav Shah's multiple group 2 winner Giavellotto (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), while among Opera Singer's rivals in the mile-and-a-half test is Al Shaqab Racing and Jean Pierre Dubois's G1 Prix de Diane heroine Sparkling Plenty (Fr) (Kingman {GB}).
Also at The Curragh, Victorious Racing's G1 Nunthorpe Stakes hero Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) takes on 17 fellow sprinters in the G1 Flying Five Stakes, while the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes sees the progressive 2-year-old colts Henri Matisse (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Aomori City (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}) head a field of eight. Ballydoyle's brilliant 2-year-old filly Bedtime Story (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) is the star attraction in the G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes, where Al Shaqab Racing's impressive G2 Prix du Calvados winner Simmering (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) also features in a select five.
Also at ParisLongchamp, the G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero Look De Vega (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) tries the Arc track and mile-and-a-half trip for Al Shaqab, Ballylinch and partners in the G2 Qatar Prix Niel, where he will meet the Gredley Family's Derby runner-up Ambiente Friendly (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) and the Wertheimers' G1 Grand Prix de Paris hero Sosie (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Ballydoyle's G1 St Leger winner Continuous (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) is one of five in the G2 Qatar Prix Foy.
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